


Another Take on that Throne Roome Scene

by stingingcake



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28748964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stingingcake/pseuds/stingingcake
Summary: Dany makes her way to all she's ever wanted, and realizes what she truly wants had been beside her the whole time. too bad he's been dealing with his own demons to even think about hers. Maybe all they needed to do was have a heart to heart.Basically, I thought the throne room scene where the iron throne was melted had some cool visuals, but could've had better framing. Slight AU: as Theon killed the Night King, Jon and Dany got married, Jon's actual reaction to finding out his heritage, Dany still burned down Kingslanding, but not on purpose, and Jon died and was resurrected (again) during the battle for dawn. Probably not for RhaegarxLyanna fans.
Relationships: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	Another Take on that Throne Roome Scene

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my Jonerys file for a while now. I have a few other connected stories, but we'll see if I can hammer them into something substantial. probably late to train, but it took me a while to process it all, y'know?

She was standing in front of the Iron Throne, ash falling with the snow. The fires finally stopped just a few days ago, despite their best efforts, and it was mostly due to the winter snows finally coming far enough south. Dany was having trouble with the cold, now that Jon refused to warm her bed, now that Missandei was gone, now that–

No, she was here, in front of all she ever wanted. Here, where her ancestors had ruled for generations. Where she would rule after she defeated what was left of her enemies and broke the wheel.

The wheel…

How would she even do that…

Be a dragon, she told herself. You won this, you brought fire and blood, It’s your destiny. You birthed dragons on the great grass sea, you ended slavery, you conquaered Yunkai, you–

She’d never ruled for long. She could free people, but she still needed to learn how to keep them free. She needed to learn how to do a lot of things.

They would never love her here like they did in Mereen. She knew that. The North loved Jon, the Riverlands and Vale loved Sansa, The Ironborn loved Yara, what did she have here? 

Ashes. Fire and Blood. Snow.

Kings Landing couldn’t love anybody now.

“I’ve never seen it before,” came a voice. A familiar voice, one she loved well. Dany didn’t look back, her eyes still on its blades. “The Throne. My grandfather and uncle died before it. In this very room I believe. My father died as well for it, to try and put someone right on it.” He took a breath, “And my brother died trying to avenge our father.”

“My father died in this room as well,” Dany said, still not looking behind her. “He wanted to burn all of Kingslanding. It looks like I finished what he started.”

“You aren’t your father,” Jon said.

“Am I not?!” she exclaimed, “Are you not?!”

“I’m not Ned Stark,” Jon said, “As much as I wanted to be. And I’m not Rhaegar Targaryan, as much as you wanted me to be. I’m me. That’s all I’ll ever be.” She heard him take a step forward. “And you’re you, and that’s all you need to be.”

“And who am I?” she asked, “I was the mother of dragons, but now all I have is Drogon. I was Kahleesi, but now the Dothraki are all but gone, I failed at protecting the realms, I broke chains, but now they are just in different ones, The people of Mereen called me mother, but I abandoned them. And–“ She choked up. “While I may carry your child, I will probably bleed it out like the one before.”

He hadn’t known before this moment that she was with child. She hadn’t told him for many reasons. Some for her sake, some for his. She didn’t know why she told him now.

She was so confused.

“All I have left is my right as queen. That’s the one thing I still have and now I’m Queen of the Ashes. Nobody wants me.”

“You’re still my queen,” he said, “You always will be.”

“And do you wish that still?” she questioned, “Now that you know who you are, and the war is over?”

“It doesn’t matter what I wish, I gave my word.” 

Dany found her heart dropping. She knew things had changed, but she couldn’t help the way she felt. It was a very him thing to say, and It made her both love and hate him more. 

“But still… I love you,” he whispered. She hadn’t realized how close he was until then. Another step and she could feel his faint body heat.

She still looked at the throne. She knew if she looked at him, something would break. 

She could still break the wheel. She could use this throne to–

To what? What could she do? Hadn’t she done enough? Hadn’t Jon done enough?

It was like the world was crashing down around her. All the grandeur, all the destiny, all the magic, it was all bullsh*t. She wasn’t the prince that was promised, she hadn’t killed the Night King, Theon had. She had carried children after a witch said she wouldn’t. She hadn’t birthed a stallion that would mount the world. She hadn’t saved anybody. She alone couldn’t break any wheel; no one could.

She pulled her hand away before it could touch it, turned and blinked, to see Jon fixing her with a worried gaze. 

“I don’t want it,” she said, “I came all this way, and I have it in my grasp, and I don’t want it.” She laughed, a mad sort of laugh. Jon cracked a smile too, chuckling along with her. Her hands found his chest and his her waist, their foreheads resting on each other's.

“It’s not to your liking?” he asked in jest, “What? Sitting on a chair of swords not appealing?”

“Well of course not, I’d have to put cushions on it, and then how could anyone take me seriously? And,” she added, “They’ll probably want me to wear a crown, and those are so uncomfortable as well.”

“We wouldn’t want to mess up your pretty hair,” Jon agreed.

“Or yours!” 

“It really was all over this chair,” Dany said, “The betrayals, the wars, the deaths… All over some stupid, uncomfortable chair.”

At that moment Drogon landed, as if sensing his mother’s inner turmoil. His presence had cleared her mind as to what must be done. It was all that stupid throne’s fault. Why she had to leave, why Jon had lost his father, brother, mother. Why the million people in Kingslanding had died. Why so many had died at the hands of the Others.

The mood shifted from its mad jovialness to something much more serious. Much darker. She walked away from the throne, undoing her braids on the way. Jon looked on her curiously. Once she was done, her hair loose, she called to him.

“Step away from there.”

So he did, coming to stand on her left side as Drogon was on her right.

“Drogon,” Daenerys said calmly, “Dracarys.”

Jon, to his credit, didn’t flinch. The Throne melted quickly, the steel of the swords pooling and running down the stairs and off into the streets below. She didn’t turn her eyes from the spectacle. As she destroyed her family’s legacy, she suddenly felt light, like all those swords were chains weighing her down, and now she was free.

She looked to Jon, who was still processing it. “I’m done,” she said, “It may be selfish to come all this way and give up now, but…” She grasps his hand. “I just want to be away from it all, to find my home. Be it Dragon Stone, or Winterfell, or Anywhere.”

Jon was apprehensive. “What about your Unsullied? the Dothraki?”

“I will set them free, they may go where they wish.”

“What if they wish to follow you?”

Dany smiled sadly, “Then they may see what kind of woman they were following.” She looked down to their gloved hands, “And what will you do now? With me stepping down that makes you next in line.”

“I’m already king,” Jon said simply, “I became one when I married you, and if I stayed one you would stay queen. So, I must step down too it seems.”

“For some reason I feel that wasn’t as hard for you as it was for me.”

“Your intuition is as brilliant as ever.” Jon smiled again, one of his old ones from when he loved her with all his heart. He then grew nervous and seemed to wrestle with something before asking, “Are you, are you truly with child?”

Mutely, Dany nodded.

“My child?”

She nodded again, a rush of conflicting emotions going through her.

He kissed her then, full on the mouth, pulling her close. Dany couldn’t help it as the tears slid from her eyes. When he finally pulled away there were tears in his eyes as well, and unlike her own, she knew his were of pure happiness.

“I-- I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” she forced herself to say, “Even without a curse, Targaeryans have never been able to bear children easily.”

He nodded, and pulled her into another hug. He held her so gently, like she was precious.

“Forgive me if I’m too excited I just-- I’m happy.” He took a breath. “For the first time since I can remember I’m truly happy. Every other good thing that’s happened to me has had a catch.”

“And this doesn’t have a catch?”

“It might, but it might not. It’s more than I’ve had in awhile.”

Drogon chuffed and Dany looked up to him. He was growing restless. She grabbed Jon’s hand. “Let’s go then.” In High Valerian she told Drogon, “Go hunt. No humans.” They made eye contact and she could feel the dragon strain on their bond. It was probably just to show that he could, but even still, she felt confident he wouldn’t eat any of the corpses. That would be extremely poor form.

Drogon took off, and Dany leaned into Jon for support. When he held her she felt joy leap through her. His sudden warmth worried her though. What was easily given was also easily taken.

As they navigated the wrecked and ruined Red Keep, Dany tried to think of a tactful way to bring it up, but ultimately just said what she was thinking. “When did you start loving me again?” she asked.

He looked confused. “I never stopped.” He wasn’t lying. Jon Snow couldn’t lie to save his life.

How? How could one go from how warm and kind he’d been to her, to distant and dark. She knew others often said how dour he was, and while she would never deny he was a somber man, she was sure he’d grown to resent her.

“Why did you stop laying with me then?”

“I–” he started, but closed his mouth, looking down. He was quiet for a bit, probably trying to order his thoughts. “Lord Stark was my father,” he started, and Dany was frustrated he wasn’t answering her straight out. She was, however, intrigued as to where he would go with it, and stayed quiet, lips pursed. “he raised me, he taught me everything I know. For so long I thought I was a stain on his honor, a mistake, and well–” He snorted. “I guess I probably still am, but not to him. I had made peace with all of that, of who I was, who he was, and then I found out he lied. He lied to protect me, but he still lied. That… bothered me. A lot.” He pushed a piece of rubble out of her way with his foot. “I wondered if he even loved me, or if it was all out of duty to his sister. I thought about if Arya or Sansa died having the child of her rapist, if I could ever love that child. I would honor any promise I made to them, but…”

She tightened her grip on his hand. 

Jon continued, “Lyanna wasn’t raped though, according to Bran, at least. She loved him.” He said ‘loved’ skeptically. 

“You doubt him?” she asked, “Bran wouldn’t mince words, nor lie.”

“I don’t doubt him, but I doubt… Lyanna was young, I doubt she knew what love was. I know I didn’t when I was her age. To throw your life away for it, to help throw the realm into chaos–”

Dany knew her share of desperate love. “You can’t blame her for that.”

“No. I can’t. I nearly did the same thing.” Daenerys wondered what he meant by that, but didn’t interrupt. She hadn’t heard Jon speak so much since before the Battle for Dawn. “Now Rhaegar… I can’t say I’m proud to have him as my father. I almost wish I were the son of some whore and my sire Lord Stark like everyone always told me, but then I hate myself for thinking that. I hated that for most of my life!” He took a breath. “Rhaegar perhaps wasn’t a bride stealing rapist like Robert Baratheon would make him out to be, but he still abandoned his family and ultimately the kingdom.” Softer he said, “I abandoned my post too, and my family, so I wondered if I was bound to follow in his footsteps.”

Dany also couldn’t tell her feelings about her oldest brother. She thought of him kinder than Jon did, but she also had never been used to hating him. 

He continued, “I just hated myself. I was sure my fate was to die in Winterfell, and then that red witch brought me back. Why should I be brought back when there were so many more worthy, more innocent, more potential. Dany, I’m nothing.” Before she could interject again he said, “and that’s what I was working through after being brought back. I was so caught up in my own troubles and hurts I thought nothing of others. Not even you, though you lost just as much. I only recently remembered my duty to you. To my other family as well.”

He furrowed his brow. “I should talk to Arya soon, write a letter to Sansa and Bran as well.”

Dany smiled shakily. “You should. They were worried about you.”

They were, Arya had asked her what was wrong with Jon not long after the Battle for Dawn. Dany hadn’t had much to say. Sansa had actually asked if she was baring him from her bed, which would’ve been an awkward conversation if Dany had shame about such things anymore. Bran hadn’t expressed any interest in any of their mental states.

“And now it’s not just because I’m pregnant that you wish to be with me, is it? If you want children that badly it would be better to go somewhere else.”

She would perhaps die of a broken heart and loneliness, but she wasn’t sure she would be able to handle him giving her false hope. To think he would love her whether the child lived or not only to be let down would crush her utterly. She would surely die.

“I married you despite you telling me you would never bear me children,” he assured, “The only family I want is with you.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

For the first time in a long time, Dany smiled. She looked at her husband as he shared her grin, and for a moment, they were happy.


End file.
